Free and Fractured
by Causemufins
Summary: When an escaped gem lands on Earth, Steven tries to help, even though they have conflicting points of view about other gems. Eventually, all the Gems must help from a threat brought by the escaped gem, and choose whether to side with her or fight them all.
1. Chapter 1

Somewhere out in Space:

She was almost out and free. She was done with all the experiments. Mystic Topaz had found a way to escape this planet and go somewhere else. She had hijacked a spacecraft and was almost through the atmosphere of the planet before another ship started to fly towards her. Taking a big risk, Mystic started to increase the ship's speed. She knew well at the ship she had taken would have trouble with high speeds, and there was the chance that she could crash into something as well.

As she sped up, the other ship increased it's speed as well. Looking to the console of the ship, Mystic found a button that would make her go as fast as the ship could handle, at least for a short while. The gem smashed the button, which slightly slowed her down. The gems controlling the other spacecraft recognised what she had done, and at the last second before she sped off, blasted her ship.

The attack caused Mystic Topaz to fall over. Within a few minutes, the ship started to slow down again. Getting back up, Mystic looked at the console map. The ship had managed to go fast enough that she had gone through about three months of light speed travel in about ten minutes.

At that point, the ship's engine couldn't take it anymore. Part of the spacecraft exploded, almost knocking over Mystic again. When the second explosion occurred, it happened in the ship cockpit, causing the gem inside to end up being thrown into space. As her way of escape was completely destroyed below her, Mystic Topaz tried to find away to head towards the closest planet.

The shrapnel from the explosion started towards her, and Mystic tried to get out of the way, but instead it collided with her. It was able to push her faster towards the nearby planet, but it also hurt her enough that she ended up being poofed. As the metal was caught in the planet's gravity, it started to rocket down. Three trails were left in the sky from the metal and the two gems. Each of them ended up going in different directions. One of the the two gems ended up crashing nearby a city. About a mile towards the city from the gem's landing place was a sign that said, ' _Welcome to BEACH CITY!'_

Three days later:

"Lion, stay out here. I'll grab you some Lion Lickers so you don't have to come in." Steven walked into the Big Donut and up to the counter. Currently neither Sadie nor Lars was there, so he assumed they were in the back.

"Sadie! Lars!" Steven called out. "Are you back there?"

A new girl stood up from behind the counter. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. If you're looking for Sadie, I can get her."

Steven wasn't sure what to say, so the girl just told him, "Well, I'll just go back and grab her."

In less than a minute, the girl had come back with Sadie. "Oh, hey Steven. Sorry I wasn't out. I hope you don't mind I let Topaz man the counter while I was in the back. I found out Lars was sick today and she happened to be in when I got the call. Topaz asked if she could help for the day and I told her yes."

Steven's eyes sparkled. "Topaz? You mean like the gem? Are you a gem?"

Topaz looked a little shocked. "No, my mom just named me after one. Though it could be cool if I were."

Steven looked a little sad. "Aww, too bad." Then he perked up. "Hey, maybe if you're in town for a while, I could show you around. Where are you staying?"

Topaz looked a little sad. "I don't really have a place, I was just going to stay here tonight if Sadie let me."

Sadie looked shocked. "You mean you don't have a home!"

Steven was surprised too. "Wait! Really? You don't have anywhere to stay?" He thought for a second. "Maybe you could stay at my place for a little while. I know there's some room and I don't think the others will mind."

Topaz smiled. "Really? That would be wonderful. But only if you're sure no one will mind."

Steven waved his hand. "Don't worry. It'll just be like when my friend Connie sleeps over. The only one who might not like it at first is Lion, but as long as I give him Lion Lickers, he's fine. Oh, that reminds me, I also want a few of those." He finished, pointing to the freezer.

"Well you did come here a little late." Sadie started to say. "And we were getting close to closing time, so if you want, you two can head off to Steven's house while I finish closing."

Topaz and Steven thanked Sadie before heading to the temple. As they arrived, Topaz looked at the statue that made up the temple. "Woah, that's pretty big!"

Steven nodded. "Yeah, that's my house right there." He said, pointing to the middle.

"You actually live here?!" Topaz exclaimed.

When they got inside, Steven showed her around. "So, the food's right over here, and my bed is up there. The bathroom is down that hall, but Peridot likes to stay in there. If you want you can sleep on the couch."

"Wait? Peridot? Why does she have that name?"

"She's a gem. Just like the others and me! Well, I'm only part gem, I'm also part human."

At that moment the warp pad lit up and Peridot stepped off. "Hey! Where are those clods? They were supposed to follow me."

Topaz suddenly grabbed Steven and pulled him towards her, shaking her head as she took a step back.

"Hey! Who's that!" Peridot exclaimed, looking at Topaz.

Suddenly, Topaz's hand shot out from her side and a small ball of fire came from it. Behind Peridot, the pad lit up again. Topaz started to run out of the house with Steven as the fireball hit Peridot. Garnet Amethyst and Pearl saw Peridot poof back into her gem and saw steven being dragged out by Topaz, though not able to see her.

"Steven!" He heard the gems call out. They didn't come out right away as they bubbled Peridot in case she reformed while they were gone. Topaz made her way up to the warp pad on the statue's hand and, once she and Steven were on it, activated it. Not fully sure on how to control it, the gems were warped to multiple places before Topaz decided to jump off.

"I thought you said you weren't a gem." Steven said, staring at Topaz, who wouldn't stop looking at the pad until Steven shook her. "C'mon, we have to go back."

Topaz looked at him for a few seconds before she got up picking him up as well. "No. we're not going back there, and they're not making me go back home."

The gem started walking away from the warp pad, with Steven in one arm, and her other rubbing her gem.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can we stop yet? I'm getting tired."

Topaz looked down at Steven. "You're a gem. That shouldn't happen."

"Yeah, but I'm part human too. And human Steven needs to sleep."

Topaz ignored him and kept walking, but finally stopped and set him down. "Fine, you can sleep."

Steven laid down on the ground next to where Topaz was standing. Not sure what to do, she laid down next to him. Unsure what to do, Topaz kept awkwardly shifting around next to Steven, making it so he couldn't get to sleep. "If you want to, I can teach you how to sleep. I taught the gems how to awhile ago."

Steven instructed Topaz on what to do, and before long,they were both asleep. Steven had started to dream about him and Lion joining a circus. After a few acts, he and Lion came out and did some tricks with their magic. When the two of them finished, they started off to leave the stage. Before they could get off, Steven turned around to see the next act. The next person to come on was… "Topaz?"

Topaz looked at Steven. "Steven? What is this place?"

Steven smacked his forehead. "Shoot! I forgot. I have these dream powers which can connect my dream with someone else."

"So, you ended connecting our dreams?" Topaz asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Hey, why is it you wanted to get away from the gems?"

Topaz sighed. "Back where I'm from there are three types of gems. Experiments, bad gems and ones that are both. You're part human, so you're an experiment. Peridots are bad gems, and if your 'friends' were working with her, then they're bad gems too." She sighed again. "I just wish I could fine Blue."

"Who's Blue?" Steven asked.

"She's my friend, or sister, or whatever you want to call her. Before I ended up on this planet, I was with her. But then our ship exploded and we got separated." After finishing, Topaz touched part of her gem, which was blue instead of orange.

"Why is your gem like that?"

"Well, Blue and I, we weren't made like this. I mean we started as.. Let me just show you."

A large screen appeared in front of them showing Topaz's first memories. She sped it up to a later time where there were two gems in front of her, one of them a Peridot, using some sort of machine on her. Steven cupped his ears as he heard the screams coming from the memory. As he looked back up, she screen started to split until there were two perspectives. From each screen was the viewer looking at the other, one of each of their arms still glowing and connected to each other. One of the two gems was Topaz, while the other, as Steven guessed, was Blue. The second the two were fully defused, the screens turned black for a second before showing two completely different vantage points. At that part, Topaz stopped it from showing her memories with Blue and fast forwarded it.

"What happened there?" Steven asked, a little scared by what he had just seen.

"Blue and I were made as a fusion. We were made with two gems. They wanted to see what would happen if the split the two gems and got me and Blue. The only problem is that since we're supposed to be a fusion, if we end up defusing, we revert back to our gem state."

"So, you were made as a fusion?

"Yeah. We weren't the first gem to be made that way. The longer Blue and I are apart, the worse if becomes for us. Some of the other experiments we saw ended up with their gems cracked or shattering just from being defused. We tried to escape because we didn't want that happening to us."

"And why didn't you say you were a gem when we first met?" Steven questioned.

"I didn't think there would be any gems here. When you said that, I got scared that if you knew, I would go back without blue."

At that point, Topaz started her memories again to show as the ship exploded. The screens split again, but one was left black, not showing them any memories.

"What about Blue?" Steven asked. "Why is her screen not showing anything."

Topaz paused he memories again about the time she had reached the Beach city sign. "Until we fuse again, I won't know her memories. I just have to wait until I find her again."

As her memories started again, it showed what she had done after getting into town. She had just gone around town to look around for the first two days, but then started to help at the Big donut earlier that day. As the memories got closer and closer to now, a new screen appeared, showing everything that had happened from Steven's perspective.

Topaz looked very surprised at what happened. "What?! Why is that there! I shouldn't have any of your memories there. Are you doing that?"

Steven was surprised too. "No, I didn't do anything."

"But if those are your memories… and you're not doing that, then that means…"

The gem lying on the ground suddenly sat up. It's hands rose up, all four of them putting themselves on it's head. "We fused!"


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere out in Space:

She was almost out and free. She was done with all the experiments. Mystic Topaz had found a way to escape this planet and go somewhere else. She had hijacked a spacecraft and was almost through the atmosphere of the planet before another ship started to fly towards her. Taking a big risk, Mystic started to increase the ship's speed. She knew well at the ship she had taken would have trouble with high speeds, and there was the chance that she could crash into something as well.

As she sped up, the other ship increased it's speed as well. Looking to the console of the ship, Mystic found a button that would make her go as fast as the ship could handle, at least for a short while. The gem smashed the button, which slightly slowed her down. The gems controlling the other spacecraft recognised what she had done, and at the last second before she sped off, blasted her ship.

The attack caused Mystic Topaz to fall over. Within a few minutes, the ship started to slow down again. Getting back up, Mystic looked at the console map. The ship had managed to go fast enough that she had gone through about three months of light speed travel in about ten minutes.

At that point, the ship's engine couldn't take it anymore. Part of the spacecraft exploded, almost knocking over Mystic again. When the second explosion occurred, it happened in the ship cockpit, causing the gem inside to end up being thrown into space. As her way of escape was completely destroyed below her, Mystic Topaz tried to find away to head towards the closest planet.

The shrapnel from the explosion started towards her, and Mystic tried to get out of the way, but instead it collided with her. It was able to push her faster towards the nearby planet, but it also hurt her enough that she ended up being poofed. As the metal was caught in the planet's gravity, it started to rocket down. Three trails were left in the sky from the metal and the two gems. Each of them ended up going in different directions. One of the the two gems ended up crashing nearby a city. About a mile towards the city from the gem's landing place was a sign that said, ' _Welcome to BEACH CITY!'_

Three days later:

"Lion, stay out here. I'll grab you some Lion Lickers so you don't have to come in." Steven walked into the Big Donut and up to the counter. Currently neither Sadie nor Lars was there, so he assumed they were in the back.

"Sadie! Lars!" Steven called out. "Are you back there?"

A new girl stood up from behind the counter. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. If you're looking for Sadie, I can get her."

Steven wasn't sure what to say, so the girl just told him, "Well, I'll just go back and grab her."

In less than a minute, the girl had come back with Sadie. "Oh, hey Steven. Sorry I wasn't out. I hope you don't mind I let Topaz man the counter while I was in the back. I found out Lars was sick today and she happened to be in when I got the call. Topaz asked if she could help for the day and I told her yes."

Steven's eyes sparkled. "Topaz? You mean like the gem? Are you a gem?"

Topaz looked a little shocked. "No, my mom just named me after one. Though it could be cool if I were."

Steven looked a little sad. "Aww, too bad." Then he perked up. "Hey, maybe if you're in town for a while, I could show you around. Where are you staying?"

Topaz looked a little sad. "I don't really have a place, I was just going to stay here tonight if Sadie let me."

Sadie looked shocked. "You mean you don't have a home!"

Steven was surprised too. "Wait! Really? You don't have anywhere to stay?" He thought for a second. "Maybe you could stay at my place for a little while. I know there's some room and I don't think the others will mind."

Topaz smiled. "Really? That would be wonderful. But only if you're sure no one will mind."

Steven waved his hand. "Don't worry. It'll just be like when my friend Connie sleeps over. The only one who might not like it at first is Lion, but as long as I give him Lion Lickers, he's fine. Oh, that reminds me, I also want a few of those." He finished, pointing to the freezer.

"Well you did come here a little late." Sadie started to say. "And we were getting close to closing time, so if you want, you two can head off to Steven's house while I finish closing."

Topaz and Steven thanked Sadie before heading to the temple. As they arrived, Topaz looked at the statue that made up the temple. "Woah, that's pretty big!"

Steven nodded. "Yeah, that's my house right there." He said, pointing to the middle.

"You actually live here?!" Topaz exclaimed.

When they got inside, Steven showed her around. "So, the food's right over here, and my bed is up there. The bathroom is down that hall, but Peridot likes to stay in there. If you want you can sleep on the couch."

"Wait? Peridot? Why does she have that name?"

"She's a gem. Just like the others and me! Well, I'm only part gem, I'm also part human."

At that moment the warp pad lit up and Peridot stepped off. "Hey! Where are those clods? They were supposed to follow me."

Topaz suddenly grabbed Steven and pulled him towards her, shaking her head as she took a step back.

"Hey! Who's that!" Peridot exclaimed, looking at Topaz.

Suddenly, Topaz's hand shot out from her side and a small ball of fire came from it. Behind Peridot, the pad lit up again. Topaz started to run out of the house with Steven as the fireball hit Peridot. Garnet Amethyst and Pearl saw Peridot poof back into her gem and saw steven being dragged out by Topaz, though not able to see her.

"Steven!" He heard the gems call out. They didn't come out right away as they bubbled Peridot in case she reformed while they were gone. Topaz made her way up to the warp pad on the statue's hand and, once she and Steven were on it, activated it. Not fully sure on how to control it, the gems were warped to multiple places before Topaz decided to jump off.

"I thought you said you weren't a gem." Steven said, staring at Topaz, who wouldn't stop looking at the pad until Steven shook her. "C'mon, we have to go back."

Topaz looked at him for a few seconds before she got up picking him up as well. "No. we're not going back there, and they're not making me go back home."

The gem started walking away from the warp pad, with Steven in one arm, and her other rubbing her gem.


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on. Pick up Steven!" Connie said to herself as she listened to the dial tone from her phone. She had come into Beach City to visit Steven only to find the Gems and learn the bad news. Finally, she received the voicemail message.

"Hey Steven, it's Connie. Please get back to me as soon as you can. The Gems told me what happened with the other gem and I want to make sure you're okay. And call me back as soon as you get this."

As Connie hung up her phone, she started to walk along the beach. She wasn't going to picked up to go back home for another hour and had time to wait. Eventually, she got bored and went to the boardwalk to find something to do. As she started to look around, Connie felt like she was being watched. When she couldn't take it anymore, she turned around and called out.

"Who's there? Stop following me or show yourself."

Connie waited as she heard murmuring from a shadow hiding behind one of the shops. Finally the figure came out and started to hug Connie.

"Connie! I'm glad to see you! Sorry we hid at first, but Topaz wasn't sure if we should get your help at the last second."

As Connie pulled out of the hug, she got to look at the new gem that had been hugging her.

"Steven? Is that you? Are you okay? The Gems told me what happened."

"Yeah, I'm fine. We just need your help to find Topaz's friend."

Connie looked at the fusion. "So, what should I call you two?"

For the first time since meeting Connie, Topaz spoke.

"You can call us by our normal names if you want since we answer separately, but together we're Andesine. But if you can help it, leave me alone."

Steven rubbed the back of their head. He explained to Connie what exactly was going on and what exactly they were looking for.

"Have you tried to see if any of the bubble gems are the one you two are looking for?" Connie asked.

Steven shrugged. "No, but it's not like we could. Topaz doesn't want to go near the temple anymore."

Connie rubbed her chin for a little before coming up with an idea.

"I could see if the gems are there and we could try getting into your mom's room. From there we might be able to get to Garnet's and look for Topaz's friend."

"And what if they catch us? Then we can't find Blue and who knows what might happen to us." Topaz spoke up.

"I thought you were being quiet." Steven said, looking down towards the other pair of eyes.

Topaz's eyes rolled before closing. Her pair of arms also went limp making Connie worry.

"What happened? Is she okay?"

One of Steven's arms waved. "She fine. I'm pretty sure she's just taking a break. She's doing a lot trying to keep us from defusing in bad way."

"What do you mean by that?" Connie asked.

Steven wrung his hands. "Well, she said when she and her friend end up defusing, they end up reverting to their gem state."

Connie's eyes widened. "Steven! That could kill you! Come on, we should got to the temple right now!"

Connie grabbed one of Steven's hands and started to pull Andesine. The fusion followed quickly, fast enough that they started to pull Connie along instead. It wasn't too long before they made it to the temple, but as soon as it was in view, Andesine stopped. "What happens if the Gems are in there. They could catch us."

Connie patted them on the back. "Don't worry. Listen, if you hide, I can look inside to see if any of them are in there. If they are, we can wait for them to leave."

Steven made them nod and gave a thumbs up. The fusion hid while Connie went inside the house to make sure the coast was clear. In a few minutes, she came back saying she hadn't seen any of the Gems, so they were either somewhere in the temple, or off looking for him.

Andesine and Connie quickly made their way to the temple door, and Steven tried to open the door. After they had been standing there a while Topaz's eyes opened up to see what was happening.

"Are we in yet?" She asked a little impatiently.

"Maybe it won't work with you two fused." Connie suggested.

She looked like she was about to say more, but the door finally opened to reveal Rose's room. Andesine gave a small laugh before going in. Steven waved Connie in, but she shook her head. "I'll wait here and keep watch for the Gems."

Andesine smiled and nodded before starting to walk away into the room. Connie gave a small wave as the door closed. She sighed when she could no longer see the fusion and went to go sit down in front of the warp pad.

Eventually, Connie felt a little chilly, and went to grab a blanket. She got up and turned around, only to fall backwards from the shock of seeing a small gem behind her.

"I am sorry that I frightened you." Sapphire said as she helped Connie back up.


	5. Chapter 5

Connie was a little surprised. "Wh-who are you?" She asked the small blue gem.

"My name is Sapphire. Ruby and I fuse to create-"

Connie cut her off. "Garnet! Steven told me. Sorry, I didn't know what you looked like."

Sapphire nodded. "That is fine. I knew you wouldn't. But I am a little surprised you are here. I was trying too much to find Steven then look to see what else might happen."

Connie looked around. "What happened to Ruby? And what made you two defuse?"

Sapphire frowned. "Ruby is with the others looking for Steven and the other gem. As for your other question, we got in a fight about what we should go when we find them."

Connie looked a little confused, and felt a little nervous. "I thought Steven said you could see the future. Why haven't you found them yet?"

"The short version is that there are too many futures."

"And the longer version?" Connie asked, half because she was curious, and half to give Andesine more time.

"There are too many unknown factors to give a good guess on where he might be. We don't know how the other gem asks. We don't know if she is in more control than him. And then there's the chance they have defused and we will only find Steven, which means we then have an even smaller chance at finding the other gem."

Connie nodded, understanding the problem. After a few moments of awkward silence, Sapphire asked a question. "What made you come back here? We said it might take a while before we find him."

"I was hoping maybe I could help. If there are more of us, it would be easier to find him." Connie lied. She knew she could fool her mom, but Sapphire was another story. When Connie was almost sure Sapphire knew she was lying, the gem spoke back.

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense. With Ruby and I separated, it makes it harder to find him."

Sapphire led Connie to the warp pad and activated it. As the two of them were teleported away, Connie looked back toward the temple door.

When Andesine entered Rose's room

"Room!" Steven made them call out, "Can you show me the path to the basement again?"

The fusion stood for a few seconds, but the room didn't respond. "Room? C'mon, don't you remember when I wanted to talk to Peridot?" Still nothing.

Steven could hear Topaz in the back of their head. 'Is something supposed to happen.'

Steven shook their head a little. "Room! It's me, Steven! I just fused. I'm still here. Look I even have my mom's gem!" He lifted up the skirt of the outfit and pointed right above the pants they were wearing.

Finally, the room seemed to recognise Steven was there, and some clouds parted to a pipe leading to Garnet's room. Right before the fusion grabbed on to slide down, Steven called back and thanked the room.

They slide down the pole, falling on their back upon reaching the ground. Topaz rubbed their back, but Steven tried to stop her from doing anything. Andesine stood silent as they heard a voice further into the room.

"-Think we could even trust her. She kidnapped Steven! And who knows if we'll ever see them again! But If we do, I swear I will shatter that other gem and crush her to dust! That will show her! You are lucky you aren't her you stupid gem! You wouldn't live to even try and escape and take Steven again! You couldn't even get out of this bubble anyway!"

Then, the fusion heard the temple door open and shut as the voice left. Slowly, they came out from where they were hiding, careful not to make a sound in case another gem was there.

Topaz got worried. "How many more gems are there! Is there any chance we can find Blue now?"

Steven tried to calm her down, worried it might cause them to unfuse. "No, that was just Ruby. She and Sapphire fuse to make Garnet. Usually only something really bad can make them unfuse."

Steven wished he could know exactly what to say to Topaz. She had almost completely closed herself off in the fusion. At least when he was fused with Connie they at least thought together a bit.

Andesine walked into the room looking at all the bubbled gems. Topaz looked at all the bubbles with a bit of fright, scared about what would happen when she and Steven unfused. Would she and Blue be poofed right away, put into separate bubbles? She had already been away from her partner long enough, what if Blue had…

"Hey, that's a new gem. At that bubble looks like it could be one of Ruby's Maybe it's the one she was talking to."

Topaz reached out one of her hands and grabbed the bubble. It was definitely Blue's. It had the same orange spot on the gem as she had on hers, but with the colors flipped. Topaz tried to pop the bubble but couldn't do it.

Steven took it with his arms instead and popped it easily. All four of Andesine's arms grabbed the gem, but Topaz's eyes widened. They flipped the gem over to see a large crack across it.

"No!" They cried out equally. Tears welled up in Topaz's eyes as Steven led them to the door of the room. It let them out to Connie and Sapphire, who were still at the warp pad.

Connie was startled when the temple door opened. She expected to see Andesine, but instead Ruby came out.

"That was a odd gem you had there Ruby." Sapphire said to the red gem. "You should probably go back to the others. They need your help in about 4 minutes and 27 seconds."

"What!" Ruby yelled. "Get out of the way! I need to use that warp pad to get back!"

When she left, Connie and Sapphire stood quietly until a few minutes later, Sapphire looked toward the temple door just before it opened to reveal Andesine.

"Steven!" Both of them cried, almost knocking the gem from the fusion's hands. Immediately, Sapphire grabbed the fusion and Connie and brought them on to the warp pad. She activated it and they traveled in the light to another pad which was closest to both Rose's fountain, and the Gems.

 **Author's note: In case you read this far in the story, here is a little bit I want to say about it.**

 **originally, I chose Andesine as the fusion's name because I thought pink and orange needed a good peach colored gem. When i was working on this chapter, I looked it up again to find out more about the gem itself to find I pick the perfect one. Andesine is a gem that can easily crack, much like how if Steven and Topaz are not careful, it will be easy for them to unfuse. Another thing about Andesine, is that some have a tendency to change in the light, sort of how you can easliy tell who is doing what in the fusion.**

 **another note is since Mystic was an experiment and was 'born' as a fusion (but is still not perfect) being defused can eventually mean death for her and Blue, and their gems will try to fuse with other gems if both are off guard. (believe me, you'll get to see and example later)**


	6. Chapter 6

Sapphire led Andesine and Connie to Rose's fountain. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the other gems found them. Steven was trying his best to help Connie keep up with them, but Topaz was making it hard. She wasn't paying attention to anything besides Blue's gem.

Eventually, Connie pointed out into the distance. She had spotted the fountain, but none of them saw the projectile coming towards them until it was too late.

A spear nearly missed Andesine causing Steven to make them trip. Topaz's grip on the gem in her hands loosened when they hit the ground and it flew into the air. Andesine tried to get up to grab it, but Amethyst's whip snagged it instead.

"Hey, you actually found them Sapphire." She complimented before jumping down from the ledge she was on. "Hey, didn't Ruby just take this to the temple?"

Topaz's fist's clenched, but Connie was the one to speak. "Hey! Give that back! Steven and Topaz need it!"

"So that clod's name is Topaz?"

The fusion, human, and cerulean gem turned to see Peridot, Ruby, and Pearl. Shocked and angry, Topaz attempted to attack, but nothing happened. Steven didn't have time to question her, so he summoned his shield instead.

"Connie! Get out of here! I don't want you to get hurt." Steven said as he let Topaz work on protecting them with his shield.

"What? No! I can take care of myself! You've seen me do it!" Connie turned to yell at Andesine, not seeing a rock coming towards her.

They were able to block it at the last second, the small boulder breaking on the shield. "See? You might have gotten hurt. Normally you have my mom's sword and my help, but you don't really have either right now with me as Andesine."

Sapphire suddenly created a large ice barrier around them. "Alright, you two, or three, whichever you want. You guys figure out a plan to catch that gem. Our friends are only trying to get Andesine to unfuse from attacking us and are not trying to injure any of us. Pearl with throw a spear, it will bounce off Steven's shield and head in Amethyst's direction. She will drop the gem she has and you will have exactly nine seconds before it hits the ground on the crack it already has. If that happens, there is about a fifty fifty split of if it with completely break or not."

Connie and Andesine looked at each other and quickly decided Connie would need to run toward Amethyst as soon as she could.

The ice barrier broke as Amethyst's whip went over their heads through ice shards. Just as Sapphire had said, a spear came flying towards them. Andesine brought the shield up just a little bit, and the weapon shot back toward Amethyst. Connie was already going in her direction when the gem hit the dirt, the blue gem flying into the air from her hands. Connie jumped to grab it, but missed. The gem came closer to the ground and almost hit it when it started to glow and float back up into the air.

'Where am I… and where is Topaz? It's so… quiet here.' The gem brought her hands up to her mouth to call out, but she could make the words come out to call her friend. A small stone hit the gem. She turned around. There were about seven gems that she could see, though one seemed to be a fusion like Mystic and one right next to it seemed like a very strange gem.

Taking a closer look, the fusion was crying and a blue gem right next to her was keeping her from moving. The gem wanted to go and see what was wrong, but it seemed too quiet to her, and she didn't feel like moving in this eerie situation.

A small red gem started running towards her. It summoned a weapon and pointed it at her. The gem reached towards her own gem, but felt it. 'My...my gem is cracked. I'm going to break soon.'

The red gem was getting closer, but suddenly a pink shield hit it. Looking over, the gems saw the fusion looking towards them. The cracked one couldn't tell what she was saying, but it started coming towards her, both gems starting to glow.

'She's going to kill me. I'll shatter like Tourmaline, Calcite and Moon Stone.'

The gem closed her eyes, but never felt the impact of an attack. Instead she felt like she was being hugged in such a way that she couldn't feel where she ended and the fusion started.

Steven fell on the ground. he was scraped all over and had a black eye. He tried to get up, but it hurt to stand on his left leg.

"Steven!" He heard everyone call. He looked down to see his normal red shirt with a large star in the middle. Looking up, he saw a large light peach and light blue gem with a lightly colored rainbow gem.

"You did it Topaz! You fused!" He cheered. Mystic didn't respond, standing perfectly still before finally looking around a bit confused until turning around. She saw Steven and kneeled down to give him a pat on the head. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Looking past Steven, Mystic saw the gems getting ready to attack her.

Mystic stood back up, making Steven gasp as he saw that Topaz's gem on the fusion was now also cracked. The fusion quickly started to make a getaway, not letting the other gems catch up.

Amethyst and Pearl quickly ran over to Steven and started to hug him and say how worried they were. Eventually Garnet joined them, after Sapphire and Ruby and stopped fighting about Topaz.

Steven looked up towards where the new fusion had gone, but he could see her anymore. Connie patted his back. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I guess," Steven answered sniffling. "I hope she'll be okay too."


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't know what you were thinking when you fused with that gem!" Pearl yelled.

"Her name is Topaz and we didn't mean to." Steven yelled back.

They had just gotten back to Steven's house and Connie was sent outside with Amethyst until Pearl was done talking to Steven.

"You can't accidentally fuse Steven! That's not how it works! Both gems have to be willing for a fusion and unless you're like Garnet, you have to have a fusion dance. How you you even trust that Topaz that quickly!"

"She's different," Steven replied. "She can't help fusing. The whole reason Connie and I were helping her is because she wanted to find her friend. They're always fused together and crack when they're apart to long."

One of Pearl's eyes twitched. "And how do you know this? Let me guess, she told you. What if she was lying!"

Steven rubbed his shoulder. "It didn't feel like it. She seemed to trust me because she thought I was an experiment like her."

That caught Pearl's attention. "What do you mean, experiment?"

Steven explained what Topaz had told him about before she landed on Earth. Pearl covered her mouth in shock at what he told her about what happened to the fusion where she had come from.

Pearl sat down trying to take all the information in. She waved Steven outside to play with Connie, and after he made sure Pearl wasn't going to need him again, he went outside.

After searching around just a little bit, Steven found Connie sitting down next to a rock with Amethyst. When the gem saw Steven, she went back to the temple, figuring Pearl would probably want her soon.

Steven sat down next to Connie. The two stay silent for a while, both just looking in front of them at their feet. Finally Steven spoke. "I hope she'll be alright."

"She's a gem, like the others. I mean, Topaz must have done well be herself."

Steven kept looking at his feet. "She did. Oh, and I have to tell Sadie she's gone too."

Connie looked at Steven questionly. "Why do you have to do that?"

"Well, that's because I met her when she was helping to work there. But still, even though she was fine just on her own, or at least with Sadie, I… I saw something when she and Blue left."

"What was that?" Connie asked.

"Her… her gem cracked as well. I think it's because she fused with Blue."

"Steven…" Connie started to say, putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

She wasn't able to continue as a loud and obnoxious sound pierced the air. Both of them covered their ears, trying to figure out the source. They soon figured out it was coming from the temple, but it quickly stopped.

Steven and Connie raced towards the temple and saw the gems emerge from the house. Garnet was carrying a large shaped stone with a pillow stuffed through a hole.

"What's that?" Connie asked as she pointed to the stone.

"Wailing Stone." Garnet responded. "We're receiving a message. We need to find Greg to see it."

Steven explained what had happened the last time to his friend, though she had heard part of it before. The group started off to the car wash Greg ran so he could show them the video.

"Let's see…" Greg mumbled as he tried to find the video frequency. It didn't take long, even when he found it but then bumped a switch, it still showed up. "Looks like it's showing up in various frequencies. Lucky for you guys."

Everyone looked towards the television to listen to the message.

"-We can retrieve the shards. I have a message for any gem hearing this. A rouge gem has escaped her prison. She was last heading somewhere in your area. It is possible you may actually find more than just her since we are unaware of how many were on the ship she absconded. She may be dangerous and it is advised for you to immediately poof her and any gems she is with, as well as shattering them as to penalize them for their misdeeds. I am learning just now that there were infact two gems on that ship. An orange and blue topaz. The two are prone to fusing, and being of different gems, no matter how close the come, is severely looked down upon. The two call themselves Mystic Topaz upon fusing. Should you find any of these gems, please swiftly take action and contact us immediately so we can retrieve the shards."

The message the pearl on screen gave started to repeat again, revealing it to be pre-recorded.

"I knew we should have taken her out right away." Pearl said to the group. "But shattering her seems a bit excessive."

"You saw what happened to Steven. It makes sense to me." Amethyst replied.

The message suddenly became fuzzy. Everyone stared at it since it had currently been in the middle of a message. Steven's dad, messed around a bit more to get it back, but he came upon another message instead. There were no words being said, no sound at all. The picture was shaking, making the new message blurry. Along with that, the picture seemed to be distorted, though it didn't seem to be the the fault of the transmission Even with that, most of the group recognised the sender.

"It's Mystic Topaz!" Pearl exclaimed. "She's sending some sort of reply to the message. Greg, can you figure out where it's coming from with your equipment. We need to track her down."

He shook his head. None of his equipment could do that. Even then, he couldn't because the transmission stopped. "Great, now we have to go find her." Amethyst groaned.

"Steven, get Lion." Garnet ordered. "She has to be at the communication hub. That's the only way she could transmit a message back."

The gems made their way to the communication hub once more to find Mystic. Surprisingly enough, the tower was not rebuilt. Instead, a smaller version was made out of the various parts left over from when Sugilite had demolished it. As they looked around, Steven noticed Garnet looked tense and Pearl a bit sick like.

"They must be thinking about last time." Amethyst whispered to Steven.

He simply nodded before helping to look for Mystic.

While they searched, Steven started to get distracted thinking about what the messages he saw might mean. He got so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice how far away he had gotten from the others. Steven also didn't notice the large hole just to his right just before most of his foot stepped on the missing ground.

He gave out a yell as he lost balance. Steven grabbed on to the side with his hand and yelled as loud as he could for the others. After a bit of calling, he finally heard a response from one of them in the distance. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only answer he received.

A loud chirping noise came from below Steven, making him cry out to the gems with more urgently.

Steven was able to grab the edge of the hole with his other hand, but soon lost grip of it with the first. He could see the gems getting close, but now there was a clawing noise that sometimes gave shrieks like nail on a chalkboard.

Finally, the gems reached Steven and pulled him up. Pearl threw a spear down the hole, and eventually the chirping noise was heard again followed by a thud as whatever was making it hit the bottom.

The gems decided they weren't going to find Mystic and left on Lion to return to the temple.

Both Connie and Steven's dad were waiting in the house part of the temple when the gems got back. Both had a pale face, though Greg's was worse.

"What's wrong guys?" Steven asked the two of them.

The two humans looked at each other before answering.

"Listen Shtoo-ball," Greg started, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. "Another message came in after you guys left."

"There are gems coming to look for Mystic Topaz. Apparently they're closer than homeworld, so they'll arrive quicker than Jasper, Lapis, and Peridot did."

No one spoke for a long time. Eventually, Garnet went into the temple and brought out Peridot. The homeworld gem had her arms crossed and an angry look on her face. "I can't believe you clods tied me up. And while I can say it is pleasing you did not trap me in a bubble like before, it was still very displeasing."

"Do you know where Topaz came from?" Garnet asked.

"I believe so. Why do you wish to learn this information?" Peridot answered skeptically.

"There are gems coming from where she came from to find her." Steven told her.

Peridot suddenly gave a huge grin. "They're going to be here in four Earth rotations! Maybe if I can leave with them..."

"You're not going to leave under any circumstances!" Pearl exclaimed, looking fiercely at Peridot. "But, we should still try to evacuate the town or at least make sure everyone is in a safe place before they arrive."

Greg and Connie nodded. They went out to go warn everyone in Beach City, though Connie had to leave not long after leaving. Steven eventually went to help his dad, but by that night, he felt wiped out, but couldn't get to sleep worrying about what might happen.


	8. Chapter 8

The past three days had been hectic for all the gems. Like they had done with Peridot, they looked for Mystic every chance they got. So far, the only clue they had gotten was a poofed gem that appeared on the ground in front of the door into Steven's house. It had been wrapped in seaweed and twine as well as a few sticks stuck in as well.

When Steven took everything off it, the gem started to reform. Pearl had been nearby and poofed the corrupted gem again before properly bubbling it. Steven recognised the gem from what he had heard from down in the pit near the communication hub. The gems went to see if Mystic was staying down there, but there was no sign of her.

Steven had thought he had seen the fusion near the temple, but everytime he looked back, nothing was there. He even told the gems and they looked around the area. Still, the fusion couldn't be found.

Late in the afternoon on the day the gem ship was supposed to arrive, Steven stepped outside and found a letter for him that was sent from Sadie. He looked up, hoping Jamie might still be around, but the postman was nowhere to be seen. As he was about to open the letter and head back inside, Steven noticed a gleam from the corner of his eye. Looking towards it, he saw a ship, much like Jasper's, coming towards the Beach.

Steven ran inside, calling for the gems. In a few moments they came out and asked what was wrong. When Steven pointed out the ship, they raced outside. Steven followed them out, dropping the letter in his hand on the ground.

The hand ship had approached faster than the other. It landed on it's palm and the wrist pulled up before a door implanted in it opened. A large black gem stepped out and walked down the back of the ship. When she reached the bottom, she stepped aside, revealing a brownish-red gem that had been following right behind.

"Thank you Black Tourmaline." She said to the black gem. Black gave a small grunt in return as she stared at the gems standing in front of them.

The reddish gem spoke to them is a somewhat disgusted tone. "So there are gems here other than Mystic Topaz. Pity, it seems like staying here has hurt your development."

Amethyst rolled her hands into fists, but Pearl put her hand out in front of the purple gem to stop her from trying anything. Steven looked a bit worried as he compared this to last time. Garnet was the only one staying calm, though they could tell she looked tense.

"We've attempted to find the gems you're looking for. They've evaded us so far. But both of their gems a at least cracked."

The reddish gem pursed her lips as she looked at Garnet, trying to figure out if she was lying. When it seemed she had guessed Garnet was not, she stepped on to the ground and stuck out her hand.

Reluctantly, Garnet shook the other gem's hand.

"Carnelian." The new gem introduced herself. "At least you have attempted. Though I am glad you haven't shattered them yet. As I left, I was given different orders to try and capture any gems we are looking for instead of just breaking them."

As Carnelian walked past each of the gems, she took note of them. A reject from White Diamond, what seemed to be a small Amethyst, and the gem she shook hands with she couldn't recognise. 'This used to be a kindergarten planet. Could she be something new from here?'

Finally, Carnelian saw Steven. With his gem covered up, she believed he was a being from this planet. "What's with this being?"

Steven looked away from the gem as she stared at him. Pearl quickly sprung up next to him with a response. "His father couldn't take care of him and was a friend with our deceased leader."

Carnelian gave a sound of acknowledgement before she continued to walk. She asked if there were any other gems with them, but she was told it was only those three. The reddish gem then asked if it would be possible to be shown around the place. When she was refused the tour, Carnelian understood and went back to her ship to grab equipment before going out to search for Mystic Topaz.

The Crystal Gems agreed to help look, but when Steven wanted to come, Garnet told him it was better to stay at home then come with them. Carnelian and Black Tourmaline followed the gems to the warp pad inside to travel to the transmission hub.

Steven followed them inside, but sat down on the couch as they left. He didn't want to be left out, but if Garnet wanted him to stay, it was for a good reason. He looked down toward the ground to think of why, and saw the letter he never opened.

Steven picked it up and was about to open it when the temple door opened. "Why can't those clods think about what I could do if I leave with these gems."

Steven looked quizzically at Peridot. "Who are talking too?"

Peridot looked at Steven. "Don't tell them I got out. I want to meet with the gems here to find that fusion before they can stop me from joining them."

"Well, you'll have to wait until they get back. Carnelian and the other gem with her went with the Gems. I think they went to the communication hub."

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "They sent a Carnelian? And only one at that? Strange, though I guess she would be the head of the operation back where the new fusion came from."

Steven tried to ask what she meant, but Peridot paid no attention to him. "What is this white panel for?"

Steven looked at the letter. He ripped it open and took the letter out from inside. Peridot watched as he unfolded it.

.

'Steven, I'm not sure when you'll get this. I wasn't allowed to tell you right away so I sent this letter instead. I heard Jamie say he would stay longer than everyone else since you would be staying and he wanted to still give you your mail.

'Anyway, on the day we were told that there was another gem ship coming, someone came into the donut shop saying that Topaz needed your help but couldn't come to visit you. The person said they would help Topaz to the shop after I left and wants you to come to help. I asked what Topaz needed you to do, but her friend said you would know. I hope you can keep the town safe again. -Sadie.'

"Who is this Sadie? Is she another human?" Peridot asked after she finished reading as well.

"Yep. She runs a donut shop in town. I first met Topaz there."

"And then you brought her here! After causing me to revert back to a gem state, I'm glad Carnelian is taking her and that other gem."

Steven looked at the letter again and realise what it meant. In an attempt to keep Peridot from figuring it out as well, he closed it up and turned to face the homeworld gem. "So, do you think it will be Carnelian and her guard or the gems who finds Mystic?"

"Of course it will be Carnelian." Peridot boasted. "You could barely find me and you had my escape pod to track me. But if they can't, I'll be working on a way to find that fusion while they look. Take me to your barn!"

Steven took Peridot to the warp pad and took the closest one to the barn. They had to walk a bit, but eventually the two of them reached the barn. Steven Left peridot there, knowing it would take her a while to make something good enough to find Mystic.

Steven ran all the way back to the pad and went back home. He took a few moment to rest before he started to run towards the town and towards the Big Donut.


	9. Chapter 9

Steven tried to open the front door to the shop as he panted, trying to catch his breath and holding his side with one hand. The door was locked and wouldn't open. He cupped his other hand around his eyes and on the door so he could look inside. Steven couldn't see anyone, so he went around to go through the back door.

That door was unlocked. Steven called out for Mystic as soon as he was inside. When there was no response, Steven looked around. When he got to the shop area, he saw the fusion lying on the ground behind the counter. She was missing both the legs, and her arms were where her leg would be. Her eyes were closed like she was asleep, but her mouth was entirely missing like her legs.

Steven shook Mystic to wake her up, and she almost instantly opened her eyes. They seemed to twinkle when the fusion realized who it was. She looked at the gem on her front, and then back at Steven. She kept looking at the two until he noticed and realized what she wanted.

"I think we might be able to take you to the fountain again, but it might not work. I could try my healing power, but they haven't worked for a while."

Mystic gave him a small nod and looked at her gem. Steven helped her up to her hands and made sure she could stay up on her own. Once she could, Steven licked both his hands. He put one on Topaz's gem, and the other on Blue's. The gems glew and mended fixing Mystic as well.

The fusion hugged Steven and spun him around before awkwardly putting him back down.

"It worked! You did it!" she cheered. "I'm sorry, but I thought if you can right away, the other gems would come too."

She and Steven left the building and started heading back to the temple. When she tried to leave when Steven told her when they were going, he explained that the gems were gone looking for her. The fusion calmed down for a while, but when she saw the hand ship, Mystic tried to leave again.

"They'll shatter me! The second the get back it's over for me." Mystic exclaimed as she panicked.

"No, don't worry. Carnelian said they wanted you back without being shattered to help with something I think."

Before Steven could blink, Mystic had grabbed him and started to run from the beach. He tried to reason with her, but the fusion didn't stop until they were hiding back at Big Donut. Even when she had put him down and locked the door, she was still panicking.

"What's wrong? You'll get to live longer if they somehow end up finding you. Maybe they'll change their minds and you won't ever have to be shattered!"

Mystic grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "That's worse that being shattered! We won't even get back to the experimenting base and she'll start messing with Blue again."

Steven tried to ask what she meant, but the fusion refused to tell him. Instead the two just stayed in the room, Mystic pacing around while Steven just sat on the ground. Steven started to feel sleepy and almost fell asleep when his phone rang. He groggily pulled it out of his pocket and answered it..

" _Steven! Why didn't you tell me there were more gems coming! I want to help!"_

"Whu… oh yeah. Well, your parents would want you to come here again that soon. And how did you find out?"

" _Your dad came over. He didn't have a phone and wondered if you had called me at all."_

"Connie!" Mystic exclaimed. "Connie! Hi!"

" _Steven, is that Mystic Topaz?"_

"Yes, I'm her."

"Listen Connie, I want you to stay there in case something does happen. I don't think you could stop these gems if you came."

Connie tried to say more, but Steven ended the call. "That seemed a bit harsh. Shouldn't you at least ask her to come?"

Steven didn't answer. He just looked as his phone for a few minutes before they heard the back door open. Both of them looked shocked as Peridot stepped in the room. When she pointed at Mystic excitedly, Steven put up a bubble around him and the fusion.

"Steven! I need to get that fusion."

"No! I thought you were finally a Crystal Gem like us. But now you're just going to leave with her!"

"What? No, Steven, I want to get Mystic Topaz and show how I could catch her. I'll go back with Carnelian and meet with whichever diamond she works for. If I can convince them that Earth is needed as it is, The whole place can be protected."

Steven looked at Mystic. She shook her head vigorously. Peridot facepalmed and tried to explain it differently in a way Mystic would agree, but she had no luck.

"Fine! We don't have to take her too! I just need to show we have you, then you leave on an escape pod when we can't go back to get you. It works for both of us."

Finally, the fusion agreed, though reluctantly. Steven popped the bubble and the three of them went towards the temple. Shortly before they arrived the other gems came back there too. Garnet was the first to see that Peridot had escaped and tried to stop her, but Steven stopped Garnet instead.

"She has an idea to help." Steven told her.

Garnet paused to think before putting her gauntlets away. "Fine."

Carnelian saw Mystic and smiled. "So, we finally found you. Come on, we don't have much time."

Peridot stepped in front of the fusion. "Actually, I was the one who found her. And for that, I would like to request travel with you to see your diamond."

Carnelian raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged. "Fine go in and take Mystic Topaz with you."

She waited until both of them were in before giving one last order to Black Tourmaline. Grab the other experiments using any means necessary as long as you do not shatter them.

With barely any time to react, The guard gem had grabbed Steven in one of her large hands. Pearl was the first to attack and threw a spear at her. The weapon barely missed the gem on the guard's shoulder blade. The gems gasped when they saw it because there was a second on the other side.

"She's another fusion experiment!" Amethyst yelled. She used her whip to wrap around the arm holding Steven, but the new fusion was too strong and ripped it off.

Tourmaline started towards the group, but instead of attacking Amethyst, she tried to grab Garnet. The guard was met from a punch from Garnet's gauntlets. The hand from the black gem pulled away, but swiped at the gem again. Her other hand grabbed Garnet's leg, but Pearl threw another spear which stabbed the guard. A second spear came towards Tourmaline, but she grabbed it to attack the fusion with.

Amethyst got in the way of the spear's path to keep it from hitting Garnet. The purple gem poofed, but she slowed down the weapon enough for Garnet to grab it. She threw it back with enough force that it stabbed the arm Steven was being held. Steven fell to the ground, and Pearl ran towards him. Black Tourmaline got in the way and smacked Pearl away. She got up quickly and attacked again with Garnet's help.

Tourmaline Grabbed Steven again and swung him around to where the two gems were coming from. The stopped before reaching the black gem so they didn't hit Steven. Seeing,how the gems didn't want to hurt Steven, Tourmaline kept using him as a shield, until eventually she was able to poof both Pearl and Garnet.

The black gem grabbed the red and blue gems lying in the sand and started toward the ship. Carnelian was waiting at the entrance giving a small smile. "Took you long enough. Separate those two and do the same with the other fusion. I'll take care of this little guy."

Steven looked in fear at the reddish gem, who knocked him out quickly before taking him inside.


End file.
